The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Sea bass, the new entrant in aquaculture in coastal areas

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Tuesday, Aug 19, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Sea bass, the new entrant in aquaculture in coastal areas

M. Raghuram

Cage culture to be introduced in the State

BANGALORE: The common varieties of fish eaten in India include tuna, salmon, cod, haddock, mackerel, sardines, seer, pomfret and trout. But with the fish landings becoming less in volume year after year, new species are being introduced in marine aquaculture.

The State Fisheries Department, during 2008-09 season, plans to introduce one more species to the inventory of aquaculture.

Introduction

The Sea bass (Lates calcarifer) is a deep sea variety of fish. They are group hunters and carnivores and are found throughout the South-East Asian region. They can be cultivated in saline brackish waters.

The department has devised a cage for culture of the Sea bass. Built in aluminium, the cage is covered with net and will be placed in 10 feet-deep water in the brackish water pools. The water is then enriched with nutrients and 15-day-old fingerlings of Sea bass are introduced into the cage.

Outlining the scope for the new species, Director of State Fisheries Department H.S. Veerappa Gowda told The Hindu that “the Sea bass is new in India though it has been cultivated in South East countries where the Sea bass shoals are found in abundance”.

The Fisheries Department has the means and knowledge to cultivate the species in brackish waters of the coastal areas.

The breed stock is available in India and the department is also trying to create facilities for a hatchery in various vantage points along the coast, especially Mangalore and Udupi.

The Sea bass is a robust fish which can grow up to a body weight of 600 to 750 gm each, when fully grown.

It attains harvest size in six months and its cultivation can provide perennial livelihood to the fishermen, he added. However, the cage culture needs day-to-day maintenance.

Smaller catch

The Karnataka coast has landed diminishing volumes of fish for the last seven years. Even common species like sardines and mackerel have reduced in volume. In 2001, the State had landed 2.10 million metric tonnes of fish of 27 varieties, including the abundant pink perches, ribbon fish, mackerels and sardines.

But in recent years, the catch has been declining and the present target set by the Government is 1.81 million metric tonnes for 2008-09.

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